In 2006 Travel Weekly asked writer Harvey Chipkin to compile both global and U.S. revenue data that would not only capture The Big Picture, but Sector revenues in Air, Hotels, Cruise, Tour Operators, Auto Rental, plus Meetings and Conventions. Good baseline information, we thought.

Several months ago Luxury Travel 360 asked Editor Chipkin to ‘roll out’ his roladex once more to pull in 2007- 2008 data as well as trends on revenue in each travel sector. Here is his Report.

(In our next issue we begin a series of Sector reports that focus on luxury, where the extrapolations present more difficulty. But then, Harvey always loves a journalistic challenge.)

• Worldwide economic activity in travel was up 4% in 2007 over 2006 and  projected to be close to $8 trillion in 2008, according to new data from WTTC.
• Increase of 3% in economic activity is expected in 2008,  but projected to be 4% annually for 10 years after that, reaching…$15.8 trillion in 2018.
• Actual worldwide spend  on travel is estimated by WTTC as slightly less than half that – so that in 2008 actual spending should approach $4 trillion, with annual  percentage increments, as cited above.
• Spending on tourism in the U.S. grew just 2.1% in 2007--- continuing a reduction in growth rates since the peak in 2004. According to TIA, spending on tourism in U.S. was $700 billion in 2006, up from $654 billion in 2005.
• Spending by international tourists in the U.S. increased from $108 billion in 2006 to $122 billion in 2007, according to TIA.

United States/Global Sector Data 2006-2007 and Trends-A Work in Progress

• Air: According to ATA, revenues were $173 billion in 2007 – up from $165 billion in 2006 . Worldwide, according to IATA – passenger revenues were at $385 billion in 2007, up from $354 billion the previous year.
• Hotels: according to AHLA – Revenues increased in 2006 to $133.4 billion – from $122.7 billion in 2005 (2007 figures will be available in fall - probably quite a bit higher.
• Cruise: In 2006, direct purchase by cruise lines and their passengers totaled $17.6 billion, a 9% increase over 2005-according to CLIA
• Tour Operators: Members of USTOA, the leading trade organization, represent sales of $9 billion annually There does not seem to be a worldwide estimate, but president USTOA  Robert Whitley said that it has been estimated at about $30 billion.
• Meetings and conventions – The Convention Industry Council has still not updated since 2005 when spending was $122.21 billion -- sure to have gone up quite a bit. They will be doing an update this year.
• Auto Rental - $21.5 billion in revenues in 2007 – up from 20.4 billion in 2006. (According to Auto Rental News, which keeps stats for the industry).
• Restaurant – National Restaurant Association estimates $558 billion in 2008– up 4.4% from 2007.
• Amusement Parks and attractions – According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the 2007 figure was $11.5 billion, up from $11.2 billion in 2006.
• Bed & Breakfast – According to Professional Innkeepers Association International, revenues for 2006 were $3.4 billion, up from $3.2 billion in 2005.